It was clear
He wouldn’t have
The courage to do
Anything but what
He had always done.
It took many years
Of memories and
Experiences to get
Here, none of which
He would let go of.
Things would remain
Much as they had
Always been,
Sad and stunted,
Unexamined.
Waves come and go,
Some larger than others,
An insistent ebb and flow.
Sitting alone on a rock
Looking out over
A vast expanse of blue.
What is today
Will not be soon,
As always.
Experiences
Of many kinds,
Some forgotten.
As she discovered
Over many years of
Resisting change,
There isn’t much
You can do about it,
If anything at all,
It just happens and
You have to deal with it
As you see fit,
Which determines
How your life transpires.
Eventually coming around,
Kicking and screaming,
As they always do
When confronted with
Anything different.
Consistently on the
Wrong side of history,
They resist as long as
Possible, propping up
A crumbling dam.
Glazed-over eyes,
Brows tightly furrowed,
Obligatory last stands,
The stream flows
In spite of them.
He walks into the room,
Apprehension creasing his brow,
An unfamiliar setting
Where he’s not in control,
Where he can’t tell people
What to do, where the cold
Spotlight is trained on him and
All his frailties, the ones
He’s tried so hard to hide
And that have hurt so many.
He tries to bark some orders
To gain the upper hand,
But it doesn’t work,
The illusion vanishes
When people know how it’s done.
Trudging down the stairs,
He barely makes an effort to
Acknowledge my presence
With a frown and grunt.
I feel like something is off,
A palpable aura of menace.
I look at my friend who
Doesn’t seem to notice and
Who bears the scars
To this day.
It was the saddest thing to see
Her go. Consumed by rancor and
Antipathy, disfigured by forces she
Couldn’t resist, tempted by promises
Of power, control, safety, dominance,
A return to panacea, a premised land.
Writhing uncontrollably, harsh voice
Feigning certainty, hands clenched,
Eyes staring blindly, ferociously.
The fire of abandoned reason, inability
To acknowledge reality unretouched,
Capitulation to fear complete.
A pedantic know-it-all,
Droning on about
His one area of expertise,
Laboring to relegate
Anyone and everyone to
Subordinate status,
Unable to make any
Meaningful connection,
A maudlin pretense of power
From a small, sad being
Who has never healed.
So, I finally got
My washboard abs,
My fancy clothes,
My flashy jewelry,
My exotic car,
My huge house,
My trophy wife,
My now what.
